In general, home networks include Internet Protocol (IP)-based private networks and allow various types of personal computers (PCs), intellectual appliances, and wireless devices that can be used in homes to be connected to a single network and thus to be effectively controlled. Examples of protocols for home networks include Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Web Service.
UPnP is an architecture for pervasive peer-to-peer network connectivity between nearly all types of intellectual appliances, wireless devices and PCs. UPnP is designed to bring easy-to-use, flexible, standards-based connectivity to ad-hoc or unmanaged networks created in homes, small businesses, or public spaces. UPnP provides a distributed, open networking architecture that enables Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and web technologies to realize seamless proximity networking. UPnP Device Architecture defines a control point (CP), which is a control device, and a controlled device (CD), which is controlled by a CP.
Korean Patent Laid-Open Gazette No. 2003-055766 discloses an apparatus and method for controlling devices in a private network from a public network, in which devices in a private network can be effectively controlled from a public network such as the Internet by translating Universal Resource Locator (URL) information of UPnP devices in a home network using Network Address Translation (NAT), and providing a client in the public network with the translated URL information. However, no methods have yet been suggested in which a public remote access (RA) server provides an RA client in an external network with accessible home network information.